Where in the World is Happiness?

Richard Hollerman

We note that Finland was considered the “happiest” nation in the world for the fifth year in a row. Happiness, of course, is an elusive term. We note that “happy” can be defined as “favored by luck or fortune.” (Merriam-Websters’s Collegiate Dictionary). It can be a term that the world uses to express elation and a feeling of blessedness in one’s circumstances.

We have just read an article entitled, “What’s the happiest country? This nation won for the 5th year in a row.” (What’s the happiest country? This nation won for the 5th year in a row (msn.com). ( This was an article by Sarah Jacoby.)

The article by Jacoby continued to stress those factors that this organization considered in making their assessment. Further, she tells us what other countries are to be considered.

This reporter says, “Out of more than 150 countries, one has been named the happiest country in the world—for the fifth year in a row.” Note the balance of the article:

Using data from global surveys on happiness and other measures of well-being, The annual World Happiness Report ranked Finland as number one.

The report, published every year by the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network, analyzed data from 156 countries including self-reported levels of generosity, freedom to make life choices, perceptions of corruption in government and business as well as measures of positive and negative emotions. The report also took data on life expectancy and GDP into account.

And, once again, Finland took the top spot, followed by Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland and the Netherlands. From there, Luxembourg, Sweden, Norway, Israel and New Zealand round out the top 10. The United States came in at number 16 this year, which is up from 19th place last year. Canada came in just above the U.S. (at number 15) and the United Kingdom right below the U.S. (at number 17).

These numbers are based on a three-year average of data taken between 2019 and 2021, so the rankings do take the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic into account. The report shows that, while negative emotions (sadness, worry, stress) initially increased during the pandemic, so did acts of kindness.

“COVID-19 is the biggest health crisis we’ve seen in more than a century,” John Helliwell, professor at the University of British Columbia and a co-editor on the report, said in a press release. “Now that we have two years of evidence, we are able to assess not just the importance of benevolence and trust, but to see how they have contributed to well-being during the pandemic.”

As Helliwell noted, the poll is able to measure three major acts of kindness: helping strangers, donations and volunteering. In 2020, helping strangers increased, and in 2021, all three acts of kindness continued to increase above their pre-COVID levels.

“This surge of benevolence, which was especially great for the helping of strangers, provides powerful evidence that people respond to help others in need, creating in the process more happiness for the beneficiaries, good examples for others to follow and better lives for themselves,” Helliwell said.

Along with benevolence, the report highlights the importance of trust in other people as well as public institutions as we enter the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report found that countries with higher levels of institutional trust, as well as concrete goals to contain the virus and the implementation of appropriate public health tools, have also had lower rates of death during the pandemic.

A few comments are in order as we survey this information. We notice that after Finland, we have several other countries that are considered “happy” places, such as Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Luxembourge, Sweden, Norway, Israel, and Norway. Along with these places, we note also that Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States followed.

This is where we must point out several facts that are germane to this interesting but important discussion. Most of these places are in Europe and a few of the nations are from other locations. Sadly, we find that most of these places are quite worldly and even immoral or evil. While these places may rate their own “happiness” fairly high, we know that God (our Creator) would rate them low in spirituality and submission to His will. This is significant!

While we must take note of the self-perceptions of these people and appreciate this, we must also note that wickedness prevails in some of these countries. Most of them have religions that are opposed to the ways of God. Most of them have some benevolence; we know that this does not (in itself) bring happiness. Only those who know and do the will of God will be blessed of God and enjoy His peace, joy, love, and all of the fruit of the Spirit!

We can see also that those nations where Communism, Islam, and various false religions prevail, this doesn’t really bring spiritual happiness now and forever! Also, certain places are known as sexually immoral in nature—Island, the Netherlands, Sweden, and total unbelief (or atheism) etc. Perhaps material abundance is also found and this may promote a worldly “happiness” but not an eternal joy! Joy is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

We encourage you to not place too much confidence in what these results may say but to go to Scripture and find the answers there. While nations like this may bring a degree of positive influences (such as less disease, a “higher” standard of living, etc.) still we must note that the will of God should be paramount.